New rules could lower standards for S.A. River

By Colin McDonald - Express-News :
July 2, 2010

The new rules could mean lower bacteria standards for water bodies such as the San Antonio River, and that has local authorities and environmentalists worried it will allow the state to become lax about making the water clean enough for kids to play in.

Until now it was assumed almost all water bodies in the state were potential swimming holes and needed to be held to the highest standard, or plans needed to be in place to clean them up.

For the San Antonio River — which was little more than an open sewer 40 years ago — this has meant better sewage treatment plants, a halt to illegal dumping, and public education about the importance of picking up pet waste, not feeding wildlife and reducing the use of fertilizers.

The river is now nearly clean enough to allow swimming, white water kayaking and canoeing.

For that, the river must have an E. coli bacteria count of 126 colonies or fewer per 100 milliliters. At that level it is estimated eight out 1,000 people who ingest the water will get sick.

The river's current reading is 129, though that's likely to rise with the recent rainfall.

But this fall the city is planning to begin constructing a treatment plant for the discharge from the San Antonio Zoo. With that source of bacteria removed and better stewardship of the watershed by residents, the San Antonio River Authority believes it could reach its goal of a river clean enough for toddlers.

“Public comments from communities ... should be the key consideration when changing the aquatic recreation classification since this limits future recreation opportunities,” SARA environmental sciences superintendent Rebecca Reeves wrote to the TCEQ.

If approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the new rules will allow the TCEQ to list bodies of water as being “secondary contact recreation 1” or “secondary contact recreation 2.”

In recreation 1, the water is deemed safe for activities such as fishing and motor boating, where there is a low likelihood of someone swallowing water, and the bacteria level is set at 630. Under the second recreation category, the same uses occur less frequently and there's less chance of illness, so the standard is 1,030.

At the commission meeting Wednesday, TCEQ staffers pledged the public would be involved in all stages if any water body's classification is changed. The agency would look for such signs as rope swings and trails near the water to see if people have regular contact.

“That's the approach,” said Jim Davenport, an aquatic scientist with TCEQ. “We talk to folks who actually live along the river.”

The Sierra Club and other groups are already compiling documentation of water recreation to prepare to challenge the TCEQ.

“That's one of the things we are going to have to be vigilant about,” said Ken Kramer, director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.